Brass horizontal wall sconce with fluted glass tubes above a round mirror

Wall Sconces for Living Room

Wall lamps for living room walls, also sold as wall sconces, do the work a ceiling fixture cannot. They lift light off the floor, wash a wall in a soft glow and give a sofa or a fireplace a defined edge after dark. Every sconce on this page names the living room in its specifications, and placement matters here more than in any other room.

How to choose wall sconces for living room walls

Start with the direction the fixture throws light, since that decision changes the room more than the finish does. An uplight bounces off the ceiling and lifts the whole space, which suits a low ceiling and pale paint. A downlight drops a scallop onto the wall and makes pools rather than general brightness. A fixture open at both ends does some of each and is easiest to live with on a dimmer.

Then decide where the fixture actually sits. Flanking a fireplace is the classic position and gives the chimney breast two anchors. A run behind a sofa lifts the back of the room and stops the sofa reading as a dark mass. Beside a piece of art, a narrow beam downlight does the job a picture light would.

Wall finish is the third factor and the one most often ignored. A downlight against smooth plaster gives a clean crescent. The same fixture against brick or stone rakes across the surface and shows every ridge, which is either the effect you wanted or a distraction you cannot undo.

How high to mount wall sconces for living room seating

The figures below are standard for an eight or nine foot ceiling.

Height from the floor: 60 to 66 inches to the center of the backplate, about eye level standing.
Spacing in a run: 6 to 8 feet apart along a wall, and no closer than 3 feet to a corner.
Beside a fireplace: 6 to 12 inches out from the edge of the surround on each side, level with each other.
Projection in a walkway: under 5 inches deep so the body stays clear of a shoulder.

Raise the whole set two or three inches under a nine foot ceiling, and think about where people sit. A fixture at standing eye level can shine into the eyes of someone on a low sofa, which is why a shade or diffuser earns its place on any sconce mounted opposite the seating.

Switching matters as much as height here. A pair flanking a fireplace wired onto the same circuit as the ceiling fixture always comes on together, which throws away the reason for putting them there. A separate switch, or a dimmer of their own, lets the wall light run alone in the evening.

Which wall lamp for which living room wall

Type	Best on	Light it gives	Price here
Alabaster or stone	A sofa wall, a stair run	Warm, with the stone grain lit	$129 to $1,259
Glass shade or globe	A fireplace wall, an alcove	Spreads up and down the plaster	$96 to $1,089
Metal arm and plate	A long wall, a corridor	A clean band with hard edges	$90 to $1,449
Brass and copper	A picture, a shelf, a mantel	Throws light onto what it faces	$99 to $1,100
Acrylic diffuser	A bedroom, a hallway	A flat glow with no visible lamp	$90 to $940
Crystal and mirrored	A wall you want noticed	Breaks the output into points	$100 to $3,129

Fixing a sconce to the wall

Hardwired: Most sconces on this page connect to a junction box behind the plaster, so the cable never shows. That work belongs to a licensed electrician, and the box decides where on the wall the fixture can sit.
Plug in: A smaller group here mounts with screws and runs to an outlet on a visible lead. It is the version for a rental, a chimney breast or any wall with no box behind it.
Mounting height: Sixty to sixty six inches from the floor to the center of the fixture is the usual band on a living room wall. Lower it when the sconce sits beside a seat rather than along a walking route.
G9: A small two pin capsule lamp, the most common base in this range. It is not interchangeable with a screw base, so count the sockets and check the type before ordering spares.
IP20: Nearly every fixture here carries it, which means dry rooms only. A living room, a hallway and a stair wall are all covered. A bathroom splash zone is not.

Questions about sconces in a living room

How many should go on one wall?

Two on most walls, spaced symmetrically about the fireplace, the window or the sofa. Three or four suit a long unbroken wall over about twenty feet. An odd number reads deliberate on a wall with no center feature, an even number reads formal around one.

Should they point up or down?

Up for general light in a low room, down for accent and texture on the wall. Uplights raise the apparent ceiling height and hide the bulb from anyone seated, which is why they suit a room where people sit for long stretches.

Can they replace the ceiling fixture entirely?

In a room used mainly for sitting and talking, yes, provided there are enough of them and a lamp beside each reading chair. For a room that doubles as a workspace or a play area, keep a ceiling source for the times you need the whole floor lit.

How close to a corner can one be mounted?

About three feet clear of an inside corner. Any closer and the beam rakes down the adjoining wall and draws the eye to the join instead of the surface you meant to light. On an outside corner, hold the projection under five inches so the body stays out of the walkway.

What backplate size looks right on a broad wall?

Five to seven inches across on a plain wall, and larger only where the fixture is meant to read from the far side of the room. A small plate on a wide chimney breast looks lost, while a tall rectangular plate holds its own next to a mantel.

See also Wall Sconces for Bedroom, Bathroom Wall Sconces, Hallway Wall Sconces and Marble Wall Sconces. Browse the wider category at Wall Lamps.

Where should sconces go in a living room?

Three positions account for most installations. Flanking something: a fireplace, a window, a large picture or a console, in a matched pair at equal distance from the center. Above a reading chair, mounted at roughly 60 inches to the center of the fixture so the light falls on the page rather than in the eyes. And along a long blank wall as a run, spaced 6 to 8 feet apart, which lifts a corridor like wall without furniture. What does not work is a single sconce in the middle of an otherwise empty wall, which reads as unfinished.

How much do wall sconces for a living room cost on this page?

This page holds 365 fixtures between $90 and $3,129. $200 is the midpoint and $389 the level nine in ten stay below. A flanking pair from the middle of this range costs less than most single ceiling fixtures.

What is the definition of a sconce?

A sconce is a light fixture fixed to a wall rather than hung from the ceiling or stood on the floor. The word came from candle holders mounted on walls and now covers anything wall mounted, hardwired or plug in, with or without a shade. In practice the term and wall light are used interchangeably, and both appear on this site for the same fixtures. A picture light and a vanity light are sconces by that definition too, named for where they go.

Buying guide reviewed October 2026 by the OroDwell editorial team.